1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for ganging and cutting a plurality of layers of strip material in predetermined lengths.
2. Prior Art
Many products are packaged and sold in multiple layers or sheets. For example, typewriter ribbon correcting tape is often sold in packages having several tabs of tape stacked in multiple layers. While there are apparatus for drawing strip material from a continuous roll, severing the single layer of material and packaging the strip, the ganging of a plurality of layers of strip material for severing and packaging as the material is unwound from a plurality of rolls has not been possible on a high speed, continuous basis. The systems used for severing and packaging single layers of material have not been usable for multiple layers of material because of the inability of these apparatus to prevent binding and out of alignment problems encountered when multiple layers are operated on simultaneously.
In working with multiple layers of material, prior art units have generally resorted to apparatus which engage the leading edges of multiple layers of material, and then pull the layers of material from their respective rolls. After a desired amount of material has been drawn from the rolls, the layers are then severed and carried away by a conveyor or other structure. The clamping device then reengages the forward ends of a plurality of layers and the process is repeated. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,299 to Gunther Stumpf, issued Oct. 31, 1972. Although this type of system may be acceptable in some applications, it is not adaptable to a high speed operation involving numerous layers of ganged material.